The final match of the World Chess Championship between 18-year-old Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh and reigning champion Ding Liren ended in a thrilling way in Singapore.
On Thursday, in the 14th and last game of their intense series, Gukesh emerged victorious after Ding Liren made a critical mistake. This made Gukesh the youngest world chess champion in history.
The game began with a Nimzo-Indian opening, where both players focused on steady development of their pieces. By the middle of the game, Gukesh created strong counterattacks using his pawns on the queenside. A brilliant move, 26…bxa3(!), became a key turning point.
The game stayed balanced until move 58, when Ding, under time pressure, made a wrong calculation in the endgame. His attempt to activate his king and rooks backfired, giving Gukesh a chance to simplify into a winning position with better pawns and more active pieces.
After four hours of intense play, Gukesh secured the victory with a final score of 7.5–6.5, dethroning Ding. This win not only made Gukesh the youngest world chess champion, breaking Garry Kasparov’s record, but also started a new chapter for Indian chess. Gukesh became the second Indian to win the title, joining the legendary Viswanathan Anand.
Speaking about his win, Gukesh said, “I had been dreaming of this moment for the last 10 years. I am so happy that I turned this dream into reality.”
Here are the moves from the final game:
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.d4 e6 5.0–0 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Nge7 7.c4 Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6 9.Qd1 d4 10.e3 Bc5 11.exd4 Bxd4
12.Nc3 0–0 13.Nb5 Bb6 14.b3 a6 15.Nc3 Bd4 16.Bb2 e5 17.Qd2 Be6 18.Nd5 b5 19.cxb5 axb5 20.Nf4 exf4 21.Bxc6 Bxb2
22.Qxb2 Rb8 23.Rfd1 Qb6 24.Bf3 fxg3 25.hxg3 b4 26.a4 bxa3 27.Rxa3 g6 28.Qd4 Qb5 29.b4 Qxb4 30.Qxb4 Rxb4 31.Ra8
Rxa8 32.Bxa8 g5 33.Bd5 Bf5 34.Rc1 Kg7 35.Rc7 Bg6 36.Rc4 Rb1+ 37.Kg2 Re1 38.Rb4 h5 39.Ra4 Re5 40.Bf3 Kh6 41.Kg1
Re6 42.Rc4 g4 43.Bd5 Rd6 44.Bb7 Kg5 45.f3 f5 46.fxg4 hxg4 47.Rb4 Bf7 48.Kf2 Rd2+ 49.Kg1 Kf6 50.Rb6+ Kg5 51.Rb4
Be6 52.Ra4 Rb2 53.Ba8 Kf6 54.Rf4 Ke5 55.Rf2 Rxf2 56.Kxf2 Bd5 57.Bxd5 Kxd5 58.Ke3 Ke5
With this, Ding Liren resigned, and history was made!
